Chapter 25 - When Sword Meets Sword (1)

"The schedule has been set."

My uncle, who had come to see me after five days, brought welcome news with him.

"We depart two days from now, pass through Ellen County three days from The Capital, then visit Iron Lion Castle another two days away before returning to The Capital. From departure to return, it will take about twenty days."

I had wondered if I would be able to stay out for a week at most, but the schedule was longer than I had expected. For me, it was very welcome.

On top of that, I liked that Iron Lion Castle was among the places we would visit.

From what I had heard, the Iron Lion Knights were one of the finest orders of knights in the kingdom. While I was there, I intended to see for myself what a successful order of knights in this era was capable of.

And see Arwen while I was at it.

I was rather looking forward to seeing how much she had grown, considering she had even sent me a letter just to brag about her achievements.

After that, my uncle continued informing me of various matters, including the retinue, but not much of it reached my ears.

"I'm sure you handled it well enough. None of that matters, so just tell me what kind of place this Ellen or whatever is."

At my words, my uncle briefly summarized the Ellen family for me.

"There are iron mines in their domain that supply high-quality iron, and a guild of smiths to refine it. It would not be an exaggeration to say that more than half of the arms supplied to the Royal Family come from Ellen County."

"Oh. Now that sounds tempting."

That was welcome news indeed.

In truth, not long ago, when I had reached the realm of Sword Expert, I had visited the palace armory.

I had become a Sword Expert in name at least, so I could not keep fiddling forever with a dull-edged Training Sword.

I thought the palace armory would have a usable sword.

But I could not even check whether there was a usable sword inside the palace armory or not.

Apparently, the King himself had issued a royal command forbidding any bladed weapon from being taken out for me.

I felt wronged, but I could not argue.

It was because that scoundrel had stolen a sword from the vault and injured his own body with it. Thanks to that, I had obtained a human body, but I also had to bear the King's anger.

In the end, I had to turn back in front of the armory without gaining anything.

And in that situation, the destination of this outing was said to be a city famous for arms. It would have been stranger if I had not been glad.

The royal command forbidding weapons from being taken out only applied to the palace storehouses, so if I wanted to obtain a weapon, I had no choice but to get one outside the palace, not inside it.

"How did you choose a destination so perfectly suited to me?"

My uncle gave me a look that said he knew the situation perfectly well. Apparently, my uncle had already known about the royal command issued by the King.

"If you cause another incident this time, both you and I will have a hard time in many ways. So..."

"Put your worries away."

Even after my words, my uncle still seemed unable to set his mind at ease.

"I told you, don't worry."

* * *

The day of departure arrived.

I woke early and finished getting ready. At the thought of leaving the palace, my heart kept rising with excitement.

But that feeling did not last long.

I simply wanted to set off without fuss, but there were more things to go through than I had expected.

First, I had to inform the King and Queen that I was leaving the palace.

The King showed the virtue(?) of seeing me off by merely flicking his hand a few times as if he found it bothersome, but the Queen was different.

As though she were sending a child to the water's edge, she poured out endless nagging, and there was so much of it that my excited mood cooled completely.

"Lastly, let me remind you..."

How many times was she going to say that damned word, lastly?

"So be careful. If anything happens, come back at once. Though with your uncle there, I doubt anything will happen."

"Yes, yes."

As I gave half-hearted responses, even the nagging that had seemed endless eventually came to an end.

But by then, the departure time had already passed by a considerable margin.

"Ah, I'm exhausted. Exhausted."

I had not even taken a single step outside the palace yet, but I already felt tired.

"Please board, Your Highness."

I rode through the palace in the carriage I had once used before. Before long, we arrived at the palace entrance where my uncle and the attendants were waiting.

"We are late, so let us depart at once."

I joined my uncle there and headed out of the palace.

"I will close the window for a moment."

The shutters closed, and once again I had to spend time bored inside the carriage. Out of boredom, I looked around the interior.

Adelia, dressed somewhat more simply than usual, was staring blankly at me. I tried speaking to her a few times to relieve the boredom, but the only answers that came back were things like, "Yes, Your Highness," and, "I am unworthy."

Ugh. No fun.

In the end, I gave up on chatting too and flopped down flat.

* * *

On the first day, we traveled by carriage.

But the outing I had imagined was not being stuck inside a carriage and hauled around like luggage. I voiced my complaint to my uncle and managed to obtain a horse.

"But do you know how to ride?"

What kind of question was that?

"I do not."

How would I, who had lived as a sword and then suddenly entered the body of a scoundrel, have learned how to ride a horse?

I intended to learn from now on.

At my words, my uncle sighed with an exasperated look and called over a cavalryman to teach me how to ride.

From that day on, I traveled on horseback.

Of course, it was not easy. A creature like a horse was one thing if it was simply walking, but properly making it run was not easy at all.

Still, it was not bad.

Just savoring the wind blowing against me was enough to lift my spirits.

And what about the scenery around me?

This was not the hazy world I had looked at while trapped inside a sword, but a world brimming with life and vitality, and I took it into my two eyes as I rode excitedly.

After becoming thoroughly absorbed in the fun of riding like that, before I knew it, we had reached the border of Ellen County.

"We are a day later than expected."

My uncle said, staring at me.

"Did we not come out here so I could get some fresh air anyway?"

This outing had been for me in the first place, so what did it matter if we were delayed by a mere day?

At my brazen words, my uncle let out a dry chuckle, saying that was true as well. It was a parched, withered laugh.

Unless he overcame his Inner Demon, that laugh would likely remain that way from now on.

"Tsk."

As I clicked my tongue, a cloud of dust rose in the distance.

"They seem to be the cavalry of Ellen County."

With a thunder of hooves, a group of cavalrymen came galloping up and stopped before us.

THUD.

The cavalrymen dismounted and knelt on one knee.

"Torrance, eldest son of the Ellen family, greets His Highness Adrian Leonberk, the First Prince! It is an honor to meet you!"

An unusually large young man offered greetings on their behalf. I thought he was simply a cavalryman, but as it turned out, he was none other than the Count's heir.

When I gave a rough answer that I was glad to meet him, Torrance Ellen said our arrival had been later than expected, so he had sent out the household troops to search the area.

"The carriage wheel broke, so we were delayed. I sent separate word to your father. Has it not arrived?"

"I have been inspecting the area since yesterday, so I have not heard the news from the castle. It seems we must have missed the messenger on the road."

In any case, he said he was glad we had arrived safely and volunteered to guide our party.

After following Torrance Ellen for about two hours, a city came into view in the distance. At a glance, it was quite a prosperous city.

A crowd of people had packed the entrance to welcome us. Among them was Count Ellen, who was just as large as his son.

"I cannot express what an honor it is to meet you like this, Your Highness. Edgar of the Ellen family offers his greetings."

"Thank you for the welcome."

Once the perfunctory greetings were over, we were immediately guided into the Count's mansion.

The inside of the mansion was filled entirely with weapons.

Gleaming swords hung on the walls, and various kinds of armor were displayed along both sides of the corridor.

As if showing them off, the Count prattled on to me about the origins of the swords and armor.

I only listened to his explanation indifferently.

My uncle had said there was a guild of smiths, that more than half the arms supplied to the Royal Family were made in Ellen County, and so on, so I had expected quite a lot.

But the weapons lined up everywhere, on the walls and elsewhere, were all low-grade goods that did not satisfy my eye.

Their splendid decorations made them pleasant to look at, but in reality, most of them could not even be used in actual combat.

My disappointment was no small thing.

Judging by the state of things, it seemed it would be difficult to find what I was looking for inside the Count's castle.

* * *

It was just as I had expected.

Count Ellen, apparently intending to curry favor with me, gave me swords and armor as gifts from the first day. But their state was no different from the things hanging in the corridor, suitable only as decorations.

At this point, I wondered if Count Ellen was treating me like a fool. But judging from his expression, that was not it either.

Apparently, the Count truly believed the items he had presented were good. Perhaps the Count valued aesthetic standards more than practicality.

Otherwise, there was no way he would proudly show off things like that, things that could never be used in actual combat no matter how one tried.

"You said you wished to look around the Blacksmiths' Guild?"

At my words, the Count showed a troubled expression.

"Why, is that difficult?"

"The guild is not a place suitable for noble persons such as Your Highness to visit."

He went on and on about the heat of the furnaces and the noise of hammering iron. The Count repeatedly tried to persuade me, saying there were many places more worth seeing than the Blacksmiths' Guild.

Of course, no matter what he said, I had no intention of changing my mind.

"If you truly insist..."

The Count called his eldest son.

"When it comes to the Blacksmiths' Guild, Torrance knows it better than I do, so he should serve well enough as your guide."

As long as someone guided me, I did not care who it was, so I put Torrance in front and went to the guild.

"Smiths are all rough and stubborn by nature."

When they were in the middle of their work, they often pretended not to notice even if their lord came to visit, and the words they spat out were as cold and crude as the hunks of iron they handled, so even if I happened to be offended by them, I should consider it the spirit of craftsmen and show generosity.

It was Torrance's warning that was not quite a warning.

There was no need for him to say it. I understood smiths more deeply than Torrance did.

As we spoke for a moment, the guild building came into view.

The guild was one enormous workshop.

"Hoo."

My breathing grew ragged.

"The heat of the furnaces is intense. If it is hard to endure, please tell me."

I did not answer Torrance's words.

Because my breathing had not grown rough from choking on the heat of the furnaces.

This heat. This smell. This noise was making my mind grow distant.

And among them, what shook me the most was,

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.